Superb! I've captured a crab spider or two, but never "in the act". Can you elaborate on the scene - were these two moving around at all or was it a relatively static scene that gave you time to compose? Did you stick around to see the outcome? Just wondering what little crabbie managed to do with Mr. Bumble - he seems rather exposed out on that petal.

I'd just like to add - whereas I appreciate all the technical discussion on how to "perfect" these shots, I think what stands out in these pictures is the sheer DRAMA - while marvelling at this sceneit's distracting to think about how to improve upon it; it could be half out of focus and I would still think it was cool!

When I happen upon a bizarre scene in nature like this it is very difficult to think about exposure, composition, etc. I'm lucky to remember to get the lens cap off in time.

The scene was very static. I was looking around among the flowers of the Rose of Sharon shrub in my backyard and only chanced upon this scene. When I first saw it, it took my breath away and it did shock me for a few seconds. I realized that this was the kind of macro opportunity I just had to capture. So, I set my tripod and camera up so that, using supermacro mode, I was at minimum focus distance (about 2").

I don't know how long it takes for the spider's venom to paralyze a victim of this size, but when I discovered them the bumblebee looked to already be completely paralyzed and immobile. I also don't know how long it takes for this crab spider to fully liquefy the internals of the bee and extract them. I do know that over a period of perhaps an hour I was watching and periodically photographing them and I only saw the crab spider shift position a few times and only a few millimeters at most.

The next morning I went out to see if I could observe them and the Rose of Sharon flower had already shriveled up with the spider nowhere in sight (or the bee).

I think the reason that we talk about how to improve a shot is for several reasons:

1. Many of us tend towards the perfectionist end of the photography scale.
2. We want to showcase the pictures we take as best as is possible and this consists of a combination of getting it right during the picture taking and the post-processing that comes afterwards.
3. To enable us to be quicker and more correct the next time we come upon such a scene and want to photograph it. A lot of opportunities are fleeting, unlike this one, and the better we become at technique, the better chance we have of capturing the moment.